Old Friends, New Beginnings
by Elephi245
Summary: Danny and Sam have just graduated, and they're moving out together for some mischief and sense of responsibility. Minus the responsibility, of course, but is life together all they think it's cracked up to be, or will they have to find out themselves? Join their journey in a series of one-shots revolving around Danny and Sam's new life, and maybe their upcoming future, too.
1. Moving Out

**Hey, I'm writing something other than Ghostly Vengeance! Woahhh...**

**Sanity: Go home, you're drunk.**

**Did you just use a MEME? I hate memes!**

**Sanity: I had to go to that drastic of measures *sniff***

***Sigh* Very well. Before I get in too deep, I would advise that you visit my profile and read my head-canon for a more detailed description of this Fan-Fiction. To put it simply, Danny's parents and Valerie were the only people to discover Danny's secret during Phantom Planet. How? That's up to you. Mwahaha. Yeah, let's just get to the first one-shot. This pretty much introduces the base storyline and is filled with pure Danny and Sam drabble. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: The storyline, characters, and settings Danny Phantom are owned by Butch Hartman.**

**Old Friends, New Beginnings  
Moving Out**

* * *

"_What_ do you pack in these boxes?" Sam heaved as she struggled down the stairs of the Fentons' house.

"What? I can't bring my old graphic novels?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Danny, these are comics that are covered in an inch of dust," she frowned.

"I'm not letting my dad sell these and take them out of mint condition!" Danny complained.

"I think that's the last of it!" Maddie shouted from the house's doorway, "I can't believe my baby's going to live on his own!"

"Now remember, Danny! If there's one thing we want you to do well in, it's science!" Jack grabbed his son by the shoulders and shook him.

"Jack! Don't be so negative! Danny wants to be whatever he wants to be, and we'll be proud of him no matter what happens!" Maddie scolded Jack, "Although, a great science or math grade would be nice, but we still support you!"

"There's not enough room in the car!" Sam pushed the back door of her car down, "We need to rearrange some of this stuff!"

Despite her wealth, Sam had worked hard to make her own money and relied on her own work. So when she was old enough to drive, she bought her own car: a used, navy blue station wagon with a gravy stain on the passenger seat.

"Hold on, I'll be right there!" he shouted, then turned to his parents once again, "I'll be fine, Mom, and don't worry, I'll visit."

"Oh...alright!" Maddie gave Danny a bear hug. Rather, a mama bear hug.

She held this embrace for awhile, until eventually Danny started to turn a shade of blue and started flailing his arms in an attempt to tell her to let go.

"Okay, mom?!" he managed to choke out, "You-you're squeezing me! Mom!"

"Sorry, sweetie. Did I hug you too hard?"

"I think you dislocated my rib cage," he rasped.

THWOMP!

"Did that work?" Sam shouted from the back seat of the car.

"You pushed one of the boxes out of the back!" Danny shouted back, "I've gotta go. I'll talk to you tonight!"

He ran over to the car where Sam was and opened the car door. She awkwardly slid out and folded her arms in frustration.

"We don't have enough room!" she breathed out exhaustedly.

"There's plenty of room, Sam," Danny rearranged some of the boxes, "You just need to learn how to manage storage."

"Don't pull any of that Brain Games crap we watched," Sam frowned, "Are we all set?"

"I think so," Danny shut the back door and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Bye!" Maddie waved, nudging Jack to do the same as the couple drove off in the car.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"...Yeah," Danny sighed, then smiled slightly, "I'll be fine."

However, he wasn't. No matter how much he tried it was impossible to let go of the home that he had lived in for the past 18 years. Regardless, he wasn't terribly put down. He was glad that he could at least talk to Sam on the couch knowing that his mom wasn't trying to snap photos or his Dad in the other room destroying something that insurance wouldn't cover. Sam put a hand on his shoulder, giving a sympathetic glance.

"We've got this."

* * *

"Wait, you gotta turn here!" Sam yelled.

"I can just take the next right and turn around!" Danny argued.

"I am not starting the direction conversation!"

"I'm not either, but we'll be fine!"

_"Amity Park! We'll leave you in the dark! Gooooooo, Alligators!"_

Danny and Sam looked up from their map that occupied 75% of the windshield only to find that they had arrived at Amity Park Community College. They were about to drive forward more when a perky college girl threw herself in front of the car. Danny slammed on the brakes as Sam was tossed forward and her head rammed against the passenger compartment.

"Oww..." she groaned, placing her hand against her forehead.

"Sam!" Danny unstrapped himself and helped her regain her balance, "Are you okay?"

The girl tapped on Sam's window, smile still clad across her face, and pointed downwards. Sam reluctantly pressed a button to roll down the window, frowning.

"Hi!" she smiled even wider, "I'm Kathy, and I'll be one of the many senior guides around campus! All freshmen should park in the blue area, and someone else will be there to escort you! Here are your campus maps, your activity fair guides, and your rape whistles!"

"Really?" Sam raised an eyebrow, "Are you seriously ripping off that god awful movie?"

"It raised a valid point to the college safety committee after we saw Pitch Perfect!" Kathy explained as she handed the materials to them through the car window, "As they say in the movie, don't blow it unless it's actually happening!"

"Um, thanks. I guess?" Danny slipped the "rape whistle" around his neck and pulled forward as Sam rolled up the window.

"Tell me what compelled us to attend a college with such raw happiness bottled within the core, because I'm starting to regret coming here!" Sam rubbed her head.

"All colleges are like this," he replied, "Besides, I'm sure that Tucker, Valerie, or Jazz are putting up with the same thing as we speak."

Danny pulled the car into a spot, still glancing over at Sam as he got out. She grabbed her bag and shut the door on the car.

"Do you think it's noticeable?" she asked.

"I don't think so," he reassured her, "It might leave a bruise later, but it won't be giant."

"Hi!"

"GAH!" both shouted in unison.

"I'm Wendy, and I'm one of the many senior guides around campus! Were you assigned a dorm?"

"We're actually living off-campus," Danny said.

"Okay, then you can head straight to the activity fair! Have a super awesome day!" she grinned.

"You have my parents on hold, right?" Sam mumbled as the two of them walked away.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're gonna have to ask them for bail money, because I'm going to jail for man slaughter today. Whether it's sooner or later all depends."

* * *

"Join the Art Club!"

"Debate Clubs are all the rage for the following reasons!"

"Don't forget to sign up for APCC's Quiz Club, the Brainiacs Bunch!"

Multiple stands held people within the booths, eager to get members worthy of their skillset to join the said club. Danny stared at the extremely chipper setting while Sam quietly read the pamphlet for the activity fair, grumbling at her bruised forehead. As they walked by each stand, Sam easily became more irritable about the atmosphere when she finally gritted her teeth.

"Sooner, Danny. It's gonna be sooner," she clenched her fists.

"Hey, guys!"

Danny and Sam whipped their heads around only to find Valerie Gray, an old high school friend, walking towards them. Alongside her was another girl in overalls and a purple shirt with blonde hair and auburn tips.

"Valerie? I thought you applied for an out-of-state college," Sam asked.

"Yeah, well it turns out my scholarship there didn't cover as much as my dad hoped it would," she huffed, "So I decided that I'd save him the trouble and just attend community college. Besides, Ivy Leagues are overrated anyway."

The three stood awkwardly, knowing that there was once tension between them when Danny was dating Valerie. She cleared her throat and broke the silence.

"Um, this is my roommate, Andrea," Valerie gestured to her, "She's from New York, but she's transferred here for the next 3 semesters."

"What's up?" Andrea held out a hand.

"Hi," Danny shook it, "I'm Danny, and this is my girlfriend, Sam...Sam?"

He nudged her, pulling her away from the campus map. She glared at him, then forced a smile.

"Hi," Sam made her best attempt to hide her pain, "So, what have you guys been doing with yourselves since you got here?"

"We've just been checking out the activity fair. Andrea and I signed up for the video club," Valerie explained.

"I love it. We get professional equipment, we get to write our own scripts, it's a lot of fun! You guys should join, too!" Andrea suggested.

"Yeah, well I think that any activity on campus that has to do with any perky senior guide involved is best without me," Sam rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Sam. It's not that bad," Danny raised an eyebrow, "A girl jumped in front of our car and when I used the brakes Sam hit her head on the compartment."

"Nice," Valerie frowned, "I get what you mean. Did you get a rape whistle, too?"

TWEEEEEEEET!

"Ewww, get away from me, nerd!"

"Dear god, I'd know that squeal anywhere. Please don't tell me that's-"

"Yup."

"PAULINA!" another annoying squeal came from behind them.

"That's Star, isn't it?" Sam gritted her teeth.

"Yup."

"Well, this is just wonderful. This day has been working out perfectly so far," she sighed.

"Hey, at least we moved all the furniture into the apartment," Danny pointed out, "We've just gotta unpack the boxes."

"Ugh, I almost forgot about that," Sam frowned.

"Attention, campus freshmen! Please report to the main building to register if you haven't already!"

"That's our cue, see ya later, Val," Danny waved as he dragged Sam to the main building.

* * *

"Ugh, that was a _very_ long day," Sam groaned as she set down the last box through the door, "I believe that this is our life for the next 2 weeks. Moving crap around."

"Yup," Danny breathed as they both plopped on the couch, "You wanna watch a movie? I think that I packed Spider-Man with the box of movies."

"Where is it?" she asked.

"...It's over near the door..."

"I'm not getting it." Sam declared.

"Neither am I." he scoffed.

"...Wrestle for it?" she offered.

"Too tired. Wanna make out?"

"Danny," Sam frowned, "...I don't think I'd be able to lean in. You know what, I'm not gonna make it all the way to our room. Screw it, I'll just sleep on the couch tonight."

"Where's the blanket? I'm kinda cold."

"...It's in the box...at the door," she frowned.

"I'll deal with it," he sighed.

As both of them fell into a stupor, Sam's head began to fall on Danny's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and soon the apartment was filled with snoring. It was right before that moment, however, that the couple realized why they had decided to stay together in the first place. Both cared about each other and were willing to follow one another on any adventure, regardless of the scenario's severity, and in that thought, was bliss. A bliss that carried them into sleep, prepared for the future, and whatever it may bring them.

* * *

**It's the return of...THE RAPE WHISTLE! Yes, I quoted Pitch Perfect, because even though I didn't like the movie, my friends force me into watching it EVERY TIME I'VE ASKED TO WATCH SOMETHING ELSE! Yes, the humor was pretty good, but I HATE THE CUP SONG. Sorry to offend anyone who likes that. Anyway, if you have any suggestions for One-Shots I will look over the reviews. Elephi245, out!**


	2. Some Business Is Just Too Risky

**I decided to upload this chapter early, because I'm sick of it just being there in my Microsoft Word document where all of my One-Shots are. In this chapter, we get a glimpse into Tucker and Valerie's relationship, and what the boys decide to do when Sam is at work and Valerie is just...not there? Yeah, let's go with that. Read, review, follow, favorite, and all that good stuff. Before I go on, I would just like to say IT'S THE RETURN OF THE PHANTOM! Don't believe me? Go to my profile, and the third paragraph of the introduction to my profile is about Danny Phantom returning! There's a link there.**

**Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to own Danny Phantom, I sadly don't. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.**

**Old Friends, New Beginnings  
Some Business Is Just Too Risky**

* * *

"Hey, Danny, I'm going grocery shopping after work. You need anything?" Sam asked as she fooled around with her car keys before heading out the door.

"Yeah, can you get potato chips? Tucker's coming over today, and we're gonna have a movie marathon," he explained.

"Lemme guess? It's you and Tucker on the sofa all night watching movies from the 80s eating barbecue potato chips and drinking cola, right?" she raised an eyebrow.

"In my defense, I drink two cans and eat a quarter of the bag. The rest is all Tucker," Danny held his hands up in defense.

"Sure," Sam replied, "Now if you excuse me, I have to go cater to some drunks and munchies...I love my job."

"You like it and you know it," he smiled.

"Yup, I do...minus the drunks and munchies," she pecked him on the cheek as she left through the door.

"Is she gone?" a familiar techno-geek asked.

"For the next 8 hours!" Danny fist-pumped.

Tucker popped out of his hiding spot from behind the counter hugging a bag of potato chips in one arm and sporting re-released copies of 80s movies in the other.

"Damn, she knows us way too well," Tucker stared at the contents currently occupying his hands, "So what should we watch first?"

"I think we both know..." his partner-in-crime smirked.

"You don't mean...?"

"Oh yeah!"

"...Risky Business!" both of them shouted in unison as they rushed to the sofa, eager to pop the DVD in.

"They are so gonna do something I'll never let Valerie or me forget," Sam whispered to herself as she pressed her ear against the door, then leaving, prepared for what chaos she could find them involved in when she got home.

* * *

Six and a half hours later, Danny and Tucker had watched Risky Business, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and an hour long special on TV about breast cancer awareness because they were sick of watching movies. Danny shut the TV off and turned to his friend.

"You know what we should try again? That scene from Risky Business where Tom Cruise plays air guitar to 'Old Time Rock and Roll'!" he suggested.

Danny had tried this once before when he was 15, and as a result, still has a scar from running into a loose floorboard.

"That's a little cliché, don't you think?" Tucker said.

"Tucker, my life is practically a cliché in itself," he pointed out, "I'm dating one of my best friends, I couldn't work up the courage to tell my parents about Phantom out of fear for their approval, and my former arch-nemesis vowed to set revenge out for my dad. Your move."

"Alright, I see your point," Tucker held his hands out in defense, "Let's do this."

* * *

"I'm punching out!" Sam yelled exhaustedly at her boss before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

"Manson! Your paycheck's on the counter under the duck coaster!" her boss announced back.

"Thanks!" she grabbed her check off the counter, reading the amount and beginning to smile, "Yes! These are the most tips I've made...well, ever! Thanks, Benson!"

"Keep doing what you're doing, Manson!"

"I've got enough money to buy that game Danny wanted," Sam held the check to her chest in relief, "I think I'll pocket this for the holidays."

She ran out to her car, eager to start it up when she realized something. Immediately, Sam whipped out her cell phone and called a certain ghost hunter about her boyfriend.

"Seriously?" Valerie laughed as Sam explained what she knew her old friends were going to do, "Alright, I'll wait in the lobby for you, but I don't think I've got enough patience with a camera in my hands."

"Well, I'm pulling into the parking lot right now," she narrated her actions.

Sam greeted Valerie at the door and gave a thumbs up, waving her camera phone in the other hand. 2 minutes later, both girls stood at Sam and Danny's apartment door, eager with their camera phones. Sam smirked, counting down silently from 3 to 1 with her fingers and throwing the door open soon after.

The scene was hysterical. Danny and Tucker had blasted Old Time Rock and Roll from the desktop stereos, as both skidded out on the glossy wooden floors in button-down shirts, boxers, sunglasses, and socks. Danny held a broom in place of a guitar, and Tucker sported a mop. As soon as Danny turned around, his eyes widened in horror at the sight of his girlfriend watching him in glorious HD on her phone.

"GAH! Sam!" Danny attempted stopping his feet, only to fall flat on his face, Tucker soon following after, "You're home early!"

Sam clutched her stomach in painful laughter as she paused the song and Valerie doubled over in an effort to keep her phone steady, obviously failing at her desired task. She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Wow!" Valerie finally breathed out, "When you said they were gonna do something stupid, you weren't kidding!"

"Don't look at me, it's embarrassing!" Tucker stuck his hands in front of the area below his waist as Danny proceeded to do the same.

"Oh relax!" Sam walked over to Danny and kissed him on the cheek, "It's not like I haven't seen you in your boxers!"

"Just don't look!" he awkwardly continued to cover himself.

"So, I think that I'm gonna go..." Tucker grabbed his jeans off of the couch's arm, tripping over his feet as he pulled them on and pushed his glasses up, "You wanna go, Val?"

"Hell, this is too good to leave!" she rubbed more tears away from her eyes, "I think that I'd rather stay here and watch you two in your little get-up some more!"

"HEY!" both guys shouted defensively.

"Fine, but I think I'm gonna send this to my dad! He'll love this!" Valerie admitted.

"No! Your dad already thinks I'm a wimp as it is! If he sees this, he'll lose his respect for me!" Tucker whined.

"Oh please, I bet he lost whatever was left of it when you tried singing to her the night of graduation!" Sam made laughter ensue yet again, only this time with Danny's voice in the mix.

Tucker had tried to prove his love for Valerie once during a large party at Paulina's, which she had surprisingly invited everybody to, by serenading her at the balcony of Paulina's bedroom. Danny had been forced to video record the entire song, (which he had no problem with by the end of the experience), and Sam was in charge of the pyrotechnics in Tucker's "master scheme". It was a long shot, but in the end, Tucker had certainly given Valerie a performance to remember.

"My god, don't tell me that he still remembers that!" Tucker shivered.

"Tuck, _everyone_ at Casper High still remembers that!" Sam pointed out, "Besides, at least that makes this-" she held up her phone, "-look a lot less embarrassing."

"Yeah, for him! Not me!" Danny argued.

"You do realize that this is coming from the guy who fazed through his jeans in the freshman year, right?" Sam implored.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to my apartment," Valerie said, heading out the door, "I guess you're coming with, Tucker? I was gonna video chat with my dad, and I'm sure he'd love to see what you pulled today!"

"No! Come on, Val!" he ran after her, slamming the door behind him.

Sam turned to Danny.

"So, what do I have to do to get you to stop whining about this?" she gestured to him.

"Well..."

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ I agreed to this!" Sam grumbled as she pulled on socks, now in a button-down shirt and her shorts herself.

"You got a chance to pick! It's either this or the alternative!" her eager boyfriend shrugged.

Danny had made a bargain that Sam could either do what he just did, or he could drag her to Forever 21 so and take a picture of her in a sundress.

"You are so glad I love you, or I'd kick your ass right now."

He turned on the music and Sam reluctantly slid out on the floor, and falling headfirst soon after.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she replied indifferently as she got up, "Like I said, you had better be so grateful I love you, because I'm about to go easy on you!"

Sam chased after her boyfriend as she took off her socks and tackled him to the ground.

"Truce?" Danny smiled weakly.

"Truce."

"Good," he stood up, "but that doesn't mean I've stopped thinking about you in a sundress."

"DANNY!"

* * *

**Not necessarily my best work, but moderately funny nonetheless. Want more detail on what Tucker did? Tell me in a review. Who knows? Maybe I'll write it...or maybe it's the longest One-Shot I've written and it's in my computer where I wait to share it with the world. Okay, so I already wrote it, but please leave it in the review if you want it to go up. I'd also like to note that the chapter that I'm posting next week will be more sad, but I had to write it for my own sake. I should really stop listening to Shane Dawson's Christmas single in August, but whatever. Review, review, review! Elephi245, out.**


	3. Maybe This Christmas (Song-Fic)

**Woot woot! I am back, and recharged! My case of writers' block with Ghostly Vengeance has been cleared up, so be on the lookout for chapter 11 up soon! Anyway, this is a Song-Fic of Shane Dawson's "Maybe This Christmas", and a link to that song is right here: /bnOaN2xikio for anyone who'd like to watch it. This one-shot is more on the emotional side, but this is for anyone who's lost a family member within the last year, or any period of time who may have trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year. Consider this an early Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa gift from me to you, and if you are struggling with the loss of a family member, just keep them in your heart and in your mind for the holiday season. Also, to quote Stoic the Vast from How to Train Your Dragon's Gift of the Night Fury, "What do we do during the holidays when someone we love is gone? We ****_celebrate_**** them."**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Shane Dawson's "Maybe This Christmas".**

**Old Friends, New Beginnings  
Maybe This Christmas**

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I slammed the button on my alarm clock and sat up in my empty apartment, heading to the kitchen. I sighed, staring at the calendar, which had been marked in bright red marker that it had been Christmas Eve today. It would've been the fifth Christmas Danny and I spent together as a couple, and the second living in our apartment. Under the December calendar page was a newspaper clipping with the headline "19-year-old boy dies from car crash", printed in bold print across the front, practically mocking me.

One year ago, Danny and I had been driving home from his parents' house, when a car came speeding down the road. Danny had swerved into the next lane and hit a vehicle in the adjacent lane. I was bruised and scarred pretty well, but Danny was killed. I don't like to be reminded of the incident, but it's hard to forget when the entire year rides on this holiday that everyone wants to celebrate. Ever since then, Christmas hasn't been the same, and neither has the past 2 years of my life. It was funny how much I used to enjoy it, and Danny would just roll his eyes at me, but I didn't care. For me, all I needed was being surrounded by these people I genuinely cared about, and I'm never going to feel that way again with an important person in my life missing.

I was staring at the article when a loud and obnoxious ringing coming from my cell phone. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Jazz, Danny's sister.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sam," she greeted, "My parents are throwing a Christmas party tonight and they want you to come. Can we expect you'll be there?"

"Um, well I dunno," I said reluctantly, "It's gonna be really hard to come, and I wouldn't wanna barge in on your party."

"What? Sam, regardless of whether we don't have a legitimate connection to each other, you're still family," Jazz explained, "and when it's Christmas time, we spend it with family. Unless of course, you'd like to go to your family's holiday mascarade gala instead."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I could come," I straightened myself up and took a deep breath, "When should I come over?"

"It starts at 5:30," she said, "and don't even think about skipping. My parents got an awesome gift for you, and they'd be heartbroken if you didn't come to get it."

Crap. Gifts, I had forgotten about gifts. I couldn't just walk in and receive gifts, it was wrong. I was going to have to get cards and some cash today after work. It was going to be a long day shift at the bar, especially with the bar being crowded for drinking contests and what not.

"I'll be sure to come," I frowned, then saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

Lovely, nothing says "Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah!" like spending the holidays with your dead boyfriend's parents. This is going to take a lot out of me.

* * *

I walked up to the doorstep of the Fentons' house and knocked on the door, staring shamefully at the quick presents that I had picked up. For Jazz, I had found an old symposium on DVD about the pysche and how it works. I got Maddie a pair of knock-off emerald earrings. Jack wasn't that hard to shop for, so I picked up a container of fudge in a seasonal tin. Jazz opened the door, donning a Christmas t-shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt.

"Hey Sam, come in!" she waved.

As I walked in, I had seen that Tucker and Valerie had been invited, as well as a man who looked somewhat older than me. Maddie and Jack ran up to me and squeezed my person until I could've lost my ability to breathe. They were always known for that. Jack had soon let go, but Maddie was still lingering, but then she pried herself off of me and smiled.

"Sam, sweetie, I'm so glad you came!" she wiped a tear from her eye and sniffed, "Things just aren't the same without you here, and we figured you needed someone to spend this year with yet. Tucker and Valerie told us about that dreaded cotillion your parents always throw, and we know how much you can't stand it."

"I'm glad you kept me in mind," I said mousily, "I got you guys gifts, and I would've brought Tucker and Valerie's if I knew you'd be here."

"Nah, it's cool," Tucker gave a "psh" hand motion, "Val and I are gonna see you for our New Year's Eve party, right?"

"I guess."

I sat down and took off my coat, unwrapping the scarf around my neck afterward.

"So Sam, what have you been up to?" Jazz asked, sitting next to the man on the couch as he wrapped his arm around her, "Oh, I'm sorry! I don't think you've met Oliver! Sam, this is Oliver, my boyfriend. Oliver, this is Sam, she's Danny's girlfriend. Er, was."

She looked down quietly, obviously upset at her statement. Oliver cleared his throat.

"Jazz tells me that you're studying to go into criminal sciences, is that right?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I'm in my third year of college, finishing next year," I explained.

"Well, I think we should start giving out presents, don't you, Jack?" Maddie elbowed him.

"Wha-Oh," he winked at her, and then said (quite loudly, might I add), "I think it is time to give out presents!"

I looked at them confusedly and handed the DVD to Jazz. She ripped the wrapping paper off the case and gasped.

"I've been looking at this for ages! This is a long-lost copy of A.G. Epidder's seminar on the mind and its functions! _How_ did you get this?!" Jazz squeezed me until it felt as if my eyes would've fallen out of my sockets, "Oh, thank you!"

"No problem, Jazz," I smiled awkwardly, "I just feel bad that I didn't get anything for your boyfriend."

"We'll watch it together, right?" Oliver shrugged, "I'm studying psychology, too."

Jazz and Oliver rubbed noses, Valerie making a fake gag motion at me and managing to get a chuckle. They were at that phase of their relationship where they couldn't get enough of that cutsie couple sap. Danny and I had never really experienced that, considering the fact that our so-called "couple bonding" was playing video games and them procceeding to tell each other to suck parts of the male and female anatomy. Maddie opened her gift and put a hand to her heart.

"Sam! These are so pretty!" Maddie smiled, "They look so real!"

I kind of blushed, thinking that I was a cheap skate, but Maddie simply put the earrings in and insisted that she loved them. Jack opened the tin.

"FUDGE!" he buried his face into it, "You are my hero!"

"Jack," Maddie snatched the tin away from him and set it on the table, "don't you think it's time to direct Sam to her present?"

"I'll do it," Jazz stood up, "I think dad's a little preoccupied. Come on, Sam."

"Okay...?" I followed her.

She had led me downstairs to the basement of the Fentons', where the ghost portal still remained as bright as ever. There were a lot of memories here. Danny got his powers here, this was the beginning of every adventure, and Danny pulled a "Fake-Out Make-Out" here during the Desiree incident. It was too much to think about in my case. However, when we both arrived in the lab, she had told me to stay here and simply left. I didn't know what was going on, until the portal doors opened and an envelope flew out, landing promptly in my hand. I opened it and unfolded a letter written in cursive.

_Sam,_

_I know how hard it is to say goodbye. In fact, I think that it was harder for me than it was for you. I've been watching over you for the past year and a half now, and I can see now that leaving you alone without a final word from me wasn't the best idea. I was never a cheery person on the holidays, even after my encounter with The Ghost Writer, but there were a couple people in my life who were the biggest influence on me to keep my heart where it was meant to be. There were a lot of people who I thought of, Jazz, Tucker, even Mom and Dad, but you were probably the biggest influence on me to think of what was right during Christmas. Seeing you now, I couldn't bear to see you lose your sense of what the holidays were really about. That's why I'm here now._

_P.S. Turn around._

Something felt off about my reading the letter. I was reading it aloud, but the last few sentences were being read by someone else. I turned around and right there was the spitting image of Danny. No joke, he was standing right here, and he wasn't intangible at all. I ran to him and hugged him, crying. He put his arms around me.

"How are you here?" I asked quietly, squeezing him tighter.

"I live in the Ghost Zone now," he answered, "I didn't want to talk to you because I didn't want you to get too attached to me."

"Danny," I closed my eyes, "I just wanted to see you again."

"Sam, I want you promise me something," he pulled himself away from me and put his hands on my shoulders, "I want you to promise me that no matter how much you miss me, no matter how much you think the days are different, I want you to remember me visiting you tonight. Because regardless of if I'm here or not, I'm always gonna be in your heart."

I raised an eyebrow at his dorky monologue, "How long did it take you to come up with that one, lover boy?"

"Jazz helped me out with it," he laughed, "but that doesn't mean that I believe in it any less."

"I guess you're right," I shrugged, "but why didn't you just tell me that you lived in the Ghost Zone? I would've visited you."

"Well, that's what I have to talk to you about, too," his smile faded, "All of those ghosts we caught? They got out of the portal illegally, and apparently, we did the same to go in. I can only go out so many times now that I'm full ghost, and I've used them all to visit you...This is the last time I can go. I'm sorry."

"W-well that's okay! I can visit you with the times that I have," I suggested.

"No, I only want you to come to me if there's an emergency," Danny eyed me suspiciously, "I won't risk you getting hurt because of me."

"...but-"

"No buts," he stated firmly, "do me a favor as my 'dying' wish."

"Ha ha, I applaud you," I rolled my eyes, "but sure."

He kissed me on the forehead and flew back into the ghost portal. I could feel my heart breaking again, but knowing that he was always going to be in the Ghost Zone was good enough for me.

* * *

"No!"

I woke up panting and holding a hand on my chest. Danny sat up next to me.

"Are you okay?" he put a hand on my shoulder, "Why are you crying?"

"What? Oh," I wiped tears from my eyes and cleared my throat, "I-I was having a bad dream, that's all."

"You...wanna talk about it?" Danny asked.

"Well," I sighed, "you were hit by a car on Christmas, and your parents brought you back for me 2 Christmases later. C-can we not dwell on it? I'm still getting over it. I don't wanna think about that."

"Wow. I didn't think I meant so much to you," he looked away from me.

"Well, what did you think?" I questioned, "Why, do _I_ not mean that much to _you_?"

"No!" Danny held his arms up, "Just the opposite, actually. I love you, Sam, and I wouldn't want you to think anything less of that."

"Alright, just...just forget I asked," I asked, him pulling me closer, "but just for the record, I love you, too."

* * *

**FLUFFY CUTENESS OVERLOAD, ONWARDS AOSHIMA! If you understood that reference, I applaud you. Don't even ask about my logic as far as the Ghost Zone crap in Sam's dream goes, because I honestly have no idea. There are 2 types of logic you don't question, and that's dream logic and cartoon logic. All it does is screw with your mind...like how Danny's hair works. Yeah...nice. Anyway, for those of you following Ghostly Vengeance, like I said, I'm probably going to post that new chapter soon. Also, my Q & A corner in my profile is now open! I'm practically an open book on this website, since I've only really been embarrassed of how much people hate my fan-spasming, so ask away through reviews or PM! Then, check my page to see if I've answered any of your questions! Be sure to leave a name if you're a guest so I can label things.**

**Before I go, I would just like to give a shout out to 2 guests who reviewed! For the person on Omegle, thank you for checking out my profile, and for my friend who decided to make a comment about Pitch Perfect, it certainly feels like it sometimes! Don't make me start writing slash about you and Mustache Man, because I WILL DO IT...OR AT LEAST GET TEDDYHAMMY717 TO DO IT! Alright, I'll leave it at that, I will see you guys next week for a very long one-shot! Elephi245, out.**


	4. Operation: Valerie

**Hi guys! So, I have an announcement to make. Because of the approaching school year I will only be updating once a week for 2 stories tops. I will update Ghostly Vengeance on Saturdays and Old Friends, New Beginnings on Fridays. I won't be stopping for the school year, because without your love and support I could never be as popular as I am on FFN, and I could never leave my loyal followers! Anyway, I am basically running out of filler ideas, meaning that I have the basic story laid out, but I want this story to last for at least a year before I end it, but that won't be for awhile, so you guys don't have to worry! As far as school goes, I really would like to focus on my work, and I have life updates on my profile if I ever go MIA for awhile, but as I've said before, I could never leave you guys. So with that, I will thank you with the longest one-shot I have written as of today!**

**This one-shot focuses on Danny, Sam, and Tucker before they graduated. This mainly revolves around Tucker's master scheme to woo Valerie that ends up failing spectacularly. I decided that you can never have too many Danny and Sam side-plots, so I really hope you guys enjoy, because I was on my period when I wrote this, so the emotion is played up.**

**Disclaimer: Despite my constant letters to Mr. Butch Hartman, I sadly cannot join the creative writers' team for Danny Phantom until I am no longer a minor. Poo, but that doesn't mean I'll stop writing creatively! I do not own Danny Phantom, High School Musical, or The Wonder Twins (don't ask, I'm very random).**

**Old Friends, New Beginnings  
Operation: Valerie**

* * *

Amity Park was always full of quirky people, and don't even get me started on the teenagers at Casper High. I was picked on for being a dorky space nerd, Sam was picked on for being Goth, and then there was Tucker. He was respresented in the worst way according to the A-Listers of Casper High, and they weren't afraid to express that. They had toned down picking on me since I hit a growth spurt, shooting up in height during Junior year, and Sam... Well, let's just say that her inner Goth is still there, but since we've started dating she's adapted to the ways of the T-shirt and jeans. Yeah, I'm calling it that. Sam's fashion choices aside, regardless of how much Tucker was picked on, there was one thing for some reason that had justified his daily "wailings": Valerie Gray.

Valerie had gotten off on the wrong foot with my friends and me at first, considering as she wanted to kill after me fazing through her apartment building and transforming in front of her, she had come to terms with her former crush being the person who she wanted to crush. So, while I may have gotten over Valerie, Tucker never had, but you're probably wondering what this has to do with Tucker being beat up. I'm getting to that.

Well, Tucker always takes the same route to get to class in the morning. He cuts through the locker rooms and arrives at his locker early to see if Valerie is there, and everytime, she is. Unfortunately, the football players finish their morning practice right after he gets to school, so cutting through the locker rooms is a bad idea when they've pretty much been violated of their so-called "Jocks hangout". Tucker always get shoved into a locker near Lancer's classroom and Sam and I don't get to school until it's too late to help him. Yeah, the school is _that_ far away and I _flew_ her to school. It's seriously that ridiculous.

During the last week of school, Tucker had decided that he was still going to ignore the fact that his parents were willing to drive him into school or even BUY HIM A CAR! I promised myself that if him and Valerie ever got together that I'd tell her that he picked her over A CAR! The second to last day of senior year, Sam and I had come to school at our normal time and Tucker was once again, shoved into a locker. This time, though, Sam had stopped me from letting Tucker out.

"What?" I shrugged.

"Valerie's over there," Sam elbowed me, "Let's just see what happens."

Valerie opened the locker door for Tucker and helped him out. Sam and I were able to pick up some of their conversation.

"You know, it's almost the last day of school and you never stood up to those guys," she pointed out, "Don't you think it's time to change that?"

"Heh, I hate to break it to you, but I think that the most 'standing up' I could do today is trying stand up from dodgeball," Tucker rubbed his shoulder.

"Well, why not?" Valerie looked at him.

"Why not, what?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why not stand up to them in gym class today?" she shrugged, "It'll teach them that messing with you was the worst thing they've ever decided to do! I bet that Danny wouldn't mind helping you. In fact, _I'll_ help you."

"Y-you will?!" Tucker stuttered, clearing his throat, "I-I mean...You will, I mean, that's great that you would...do what...you do."

"Okay then," Valerie held out her hand, "I take it we have a deal, right?"

"Yes," he shook her hand coolly, "yes we do."

"Great," she smiled, "look, I have to go meet up with the rest of the camera crew for the final broadcast of the year."

As Valerie ran down the hall, Sam and I approached Tucker.

"Well Tuck, you look happy," Sam folded her arms, "Got anything you wanna ask us?"

"You're hilarious guys, but I'm not gonna let you two blow it," Tucker frowned.

"Oh yeah, and you didn't do _anything_ to screw with _our_ relationship?" she gestured to me and back to herself.

"It's the last day of school devoted to learning, you guys!" I flung my arms over their shoulders, "So can I just spend it with my best friend and my girlfriend?"

"2 years and it still feels weird when you say that," Sam shook her head, "Let's get to class."

"One last day of therapy-inducing school after this," I pondered aloud, "You know, I used to think that I'd miss this place a little more...I guess I was wrong."

* * *

"One more period of gym class," Sam announced.

"Don't spoil it for me, I'm already wetting my pants with anticipation," I said sarcastically, "I wonder what Tetslaff has planned now."

"Remember, we're gonna help Tucker in any way that we can," she elbowed me.

At the gym's doors, there was a laminated note.

**Students,**

**Since we have already collected our gym uniforms, you will not enter through the locker room doors. Please procceed straight to the gym.**

**Ms. Tetslaff**

"Alright, get in here, you little brats!" Tetslaff shouted, whistle between her teeth, "Seeing as we've already done every new activity that's been 'suggested', we are going to be playing an old game of dodgeball! So, who wants to be captain?!"

Multiple people raised their hands.

"Let's take one boy and one girl!" she decided, "Baxter! Gray! You're picking teams!"

"I'll take Kwan," Dash high-fived his buddy, "Your move, Gray."

"Fine," she put her nose up flatly, "Tucker."

Murmurs arose from the class as Tucker trotted over smugly.

"That's right, I get picked first for once!" he shouted, "That's what happens when-"

"FOLEY! Keep it down!" Tetslaff scoffed, "Kwan, you pick next!"

"Star!" Kwan smiled.

Star looked around, then made an "Oh, you meant me!" face and bounced over to Dash's team.

"Foley!"

"Danny, I choose you!" he pointed at me and I walked over, embarrassed.

"Jones!"

"Paulina!" she clapped.

"As usual," she strided over, stopping at Sam and saying, "and as it should be!"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Fenton! Take your pick!"

It went on for awhile, until they had finally come down to all of the A-Listers on one side of the gym and the others on the opposing side. Valerie eyed the dodgeballs at the middle of the gym.

"Now kids, this is all in good fun!" Tetslaff announced, "However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try your best! So, let's get some back-breaking fun in before your senior year is over!"

TWEEEEEEEET!

"Remember, like we went over!" Valerie shouted, charging for the dodgeballs.

Tucker and Mikey soon followed after, while Sam and I held back and dodged the incoming balls. I picked one up and chucked it at Kwan, who was preoccupied by trying to have a conversation with Star. I successfully hit him, and in the face, too. He scowled.

"Come on, Fenton! I thought we were cool!" he slumped.

Well, I'll give him that sympathy...sort of. Kwan had never really displayed any negative feelings toward me, but he was willing to do what Dash had said.

"No hard feelings, right?" I shouted back.

"Yeah, I guess," Kwan sat on the bleachers.

The game went on for most of the period, until finally there were only a few people in the game. Sam had gotten Paulina out (yeah, big surprise there), I had been hit by Dash (yet again, out of the ordinary, much?), Mikey was struck down by Star, and Paulina had managed to make it out of the game with her hair and nails intact. Valerie, Tucker, and Dash were the only people left in the game, and the period was almost over.

Valerie narrowly dodged another ball, throwing it to Tucker. He shut his eyes, and then something happened. Something that would go down in history as the day that Dash Baxter lost all pride: Tucker threw the ball, and it hit Dash. Hard, and to the face. I could make a joke about that, but I think that Sam would probably kill me if I did. Dash's eyes widened, as well as Tucker's and the rest of the gym's. Ms. Tetslaff blew her whistle.

"FOLEY!" she barked.

He swallowed, and then walked over to her nervously. She stood still for awhile.

"...THIS BOY HAS TAKEN DOWN THE QUARTERBACK!" Tetslaff grabbed Tucker's wrist and held it in the air.

The gym burst out in cheers, and Valerie walked over to him and gave him a pat on the back.

"I knew you could do it!" she encouraged, "You just needed to prove it to yourself!"

At lunch, Tucker couldn't stop smiling. Sam and I looked knowingly at one another. He frowned for the first time since gym.

"What?" Tucker shrugged, "You guys look like you haven't seen me happy before!"

"Oh we have," I said.

"Yeah, but never about anything besides your latest PDA model," Sam added.

"I think that this calls for a 'karma's a bitch' moment," I smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tucker asked, annoyed.

"LOVEBIRDS!" both of us shouted in unison.

"Hey! I came up with that first! You can't take that from me, I have full credit!" he pouted.

"Save it," she shook her head, "we think you should go for it."

"Yeah, as long as you leave me out of it," I mumbled.

"Guys, I have a plan, okay?" Tucker held a finger up in the air, "I'll need your help, though. It involves expert timing."

"Oh wonderful," Sam sighed.

"Okay, so here's how it's gonna go down..."

At Tucker's house after school, he described the details of his latest scheme. He took a bow and waited for a reaction. Three seconds later, Sam and I burst out laughing, and I'm pretty sure that she would've started rolled around on the floor if she Mr. and Mrs. Foley weren't in the room next to us. Yeah, Sam Manson, one of the most serious people I know, rolling around on the floor.

"You have got to be kidding me," I laughed, "That's your master plan?"

"Seriously Tuck, this is one of the most ridiculous plans I've ever heard," Sam wiped a tear from her eye.

Tucker's plan was...well, it certainly screamed Tucker. Paulina was going to invite her entire graduating class over to her mansion for a post-graduation party. Tucker had decided that he was going to serenade Valerie as she stood on the balcony of Paulina's bedroom. Supposedly Sam had someone on hold who could get fireworks (which to this day baffles me if they were legal or not), and I was going to record the entire thing with a video camera. So as you could tell, this wasn't groundbreaking.

"Okay, okay, you've laughed," Tucker frowned, "but I can count on you guys, right?"

Our smiles faded and I cleared my throat.

"Well, uhh..." I trailed off.

"I-it's not that we don't want to, but-"

"Err, we were just-"

"No."

"What?!" Tucker threw his hands in the air, "Why not?! I helped you guys!"

"Tucker, you bet money on when we would get together!" Sam pointed out.

"Let's not even bring up the incident with the ENTIRE GHOST ZONE TALKING ABOUT IT THE MISSION AFTERWARD!"

"Yeah, and you guys kicked my ass like I deserved!" he whined, "PLEASE?!"

She looked at me and turned to him, "WE ARE NOT DOING THIS!"

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ we're doing this," Sam grumbled over the phone.

It was the last day of school, and every senior was forced to drag their cap and gown to school that morning. It was a half day for the rest of the school district, but the graduating class had to put up with everything from crying parents to motivational speeches being shoved down their throats. Oh, joy. I changed into Phantom and flew out of my house. I planned on getting to school early since Tucker was bound to get crushed by Dash, considering what happened at gym the day before. Unfortunately, that meant Sam was probably going to be pissed off by the time we got to school. I knocked on Sam's window and she came out of her bathroom pulling on a sneaker before she opened the door. Usually I have control over my powers, but that didn't stop me from almost losing control of my flight powers at the sight of my girlfriend.

Sam was wearing a dark purple tank top with a black vest that pulled over her washed out jeans, and her hair was down. She wasn't wearing nearly as much makeup as she normally would, but that didn't mean that she didn't look good. No, the way she looked is probably why I reminded myself not to take the fact that I could turn _any_ part of my body intangible for granted. She looked down at me on the sidewalk and shook her head.

"Oh come on, it's not like you've never seen me without makeup before! I'm not _that_ hideous," she put her hands on her hips, "Thanks for the self esteem boost."

"No, no! I didn't say that!" I flew back up to her window, "You look nice."

"Thanks, you ready to go?" she asked.

"Um, yeah. About that, you may wanna hold on tight," I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Wait, why would I-"

Before she could say anything else or protest, I scooped her up and began flying the fastest I could. She was screaming about some random law about rights.

"WHAT THE HELL, DANNY?!"

"I wanted to get to school early to help Tucker with Dash!" I explained, "Now keep your voice down, people are starting to stare!"

"IF I PUKE, YOU'RE CLEANING IT UP!" Sam shouted back.

We arrived at school a couple minutes later, and I put Sam down. She clutched her stomach and glared at me.

"Happy now? We're at school," she eyed me angrily.

"There's Tucker," I walked over to him, who was at his locker, as usual.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" he asked.

I pointed to Sam, who was still holding her stomach and a hand over her mouth.

"Ahh," Tucker smiled at me, "So, did you get those fireworks?"

She held up a finger and pulled them out of her back-pack. I widened my eyes at the warning label and squinted to read it.

"Does this say that it's illegal in 49 states and Canada?"

"They'll let you get away with anything in California. My older brother would know, he lives there."

"You have a brother?" Tucker questioned.

"My parents never talk about him," Sam explained, "I think they had me in hopes that I would turn out like they wanted me to. In fact, I heard my aunt complaining to my mom that she had mistakes."

You know, I've had my moments where my parents can be embarrassing. Believe me, they tried to set up cameras in the house after my Risky Business incident. Let's just say that Sam came over that night, so you can assume that they caught us making out and saved it for "sentimental value". Yeah, sentimental value as in I'm pretty sure they just thought I wasn't going to get laid ever again or something. Oh, and for those of you wondering, no we did not do anything. Perverts. Um, back to the subject. My parents are-without a doubt-embarrassing, but I feel somewhat better about them whenever I hear about Sam's issues, but at the same time I feel worse for Sam. It doesn't bother her as much as it bothers me when they call her a "mistake", but I don't think Sam has ever realized how much I care about her. Speaking of which, I still had some news I needed to break to her.

"Hey Foley!" Dash slammed Tucker's locker and pushed him up against it, "I've got a bone to pick with you! Who do you think you are, going around and hitting me with dodgeballs?! It's the last day of school, so you'd think that you'd know how this works!"

"Hey, back off! He wasn't doing anything wrong! He was just playing the game!" Sam spoke up.

"Back off, Manson!" Dash acted as if she was a fly and brushed her away, not even turning around.

I can expect you to think I'm a bad boyfriend for not defending my girlfriend, but this is Dash. Sam didn't mind it because he picks on everyone, and it wasn't going to benefit anyone if I was shoved into the same locker as Tucker. I've had it happen before, and it took 2 hours for Sam, the janitor, Mr. Lancer, Tucker's parents, and my parents to pry us out of the closed space. Apparently though, Dash's comments weren't going to fly with Sam today. She whipped Dash around.

"If you have such a problem with how he plays the game, then you should look at how you play dodgeball!" Sam retorted.

"Listen up, M-" he stared at her, "Whoa, Manson. You got...hot!"

Okay, _that_ I had a problem with. Time to go into guard dog mode.

"Alright, nothing to see here!" I stood in front of Sam with my arms spread out, "Listen Dash, it's the last day of school, so can you for once cut the 'losers' a break and stop hitting on taken girls?"

"Keep it up, Fenton, and I'll give you a reason to be scared, too!" Dash pressed Tucker against the locker harder and faced him again, "Now, let's review! I am the jock, you are the loser! The jocks beat the losers, so that means I beat you!"

"Actually Dash, the last I checked, the jocks are the real losers in the end!"

Everyone turned their heads to find that _Valerie_ was there, and she was defending _Tucker_. People started to gather around us, and the most Tucker could do is make grunting noises in agreement.

"What are you looking at, Gray?" Dash let go of Tucker and towered over her.

"I'm just saying. You chose popularity, and he chose studies, and look where that's gotten you both!" she snapped, "He's going to an Ivy League college to study like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, and you're probably going to be taking orders from the drive-thru window at Nasty Burger until you're 40 because you found a way to screw up some sports scholarship you were offered!"

"You wanna go there, Gray? You're living in an apartment with your dad because of a ghost dog! You've only got school, and the only reason so many people still even bother talking to you is because you're so desperate for attention you go around saying you know who Phantom really is! You're a weak little girl who thinks that standing up for geeks and losers like Foley and Fenton are going to give you the time of day, but you know what? They won't," he spat.

The rowdy crowd reduced itself to murmurs. Valerie was tough, but Dash had hit her hard, because she was fighting back tears and biting her lip. Tucker had just about snapped at that, and all of that fear and scariness had just washed away.

"...Yes they will," he slammed his foot on the ground.

"Excuse me?"

"They will!" Tucker said even more confidently, "They will because she has something that none of you 'popular people' will get, and that's compassion! She understands people and gets how they feel because she knows what it's like to feel that way! You never will because you've never felt struggle, and you're afraid to experience that so you pick on everyone else to make sure you never feel it! She's about 100 times braver in one day than you'll ever be in your whole life!"

Dash had stepped back in astonishment. The most anyone had done to stand up to Dash was when I had defended Sam _five minutes ago_. The crowd looked at him in amazement, and Valerie just stared at him curiously.

"That's it, Foley! You're dead-"

"There they are!"

The crowd turned around again, this time to a nervous but certain Mikey, who was pointing out Dash to Principal Ishiyama. She pulled through the crowd.

"Mr. Baxter! I have had just about enough with your shenanigans! I am not afraid to give detention on the last day of school, so I advise that you get to class, along with the rest of you!" she herded everyone away and turned to us, "Tucker, are you okay?"

He nodded, and she walked away. Valerie walked up to Tucker.

"Did you really mean that?" she asked.

"Depends, did _you_ really mean what _you_ said?" Tucker asked her.

"Um...I was just trying to fight off Dash. Just like you were, right?" she turned slightly pink.

"...Yeah, just fighting off Dash!" he shrugged, "I guess that makes us Wonder Twins."

"You know what? I guess it does," Valerie bumped Tucker's fist, "I have to go, I'll see you later today."

I don't know if it was just me, but I could've sworn that Valerie was starting to skip away.

"Wow...I think that if you play your cards right, you two could be the lovebirds," Sam smiled somewhat evilly.

"I still have rights to that!" he pouted, "Like I said, we're Wonder Twins! They can still love each other."

"I dunno, Tuck. I don't think the Wonder Twins ever got each other laid..."

I got a smack in the arm from Sam for that one. We decided to end the conversation there and head to our classroom, but Sam and I knew that something was there. We would see the day that Tucker liked Valerie-that was for sure-but no one thought they would see the day that Valerie would like Tucker.

* * *

"Congratulations, Casper High seniors!"

Everyone threw their caps in the air and broke into cheers. I was kind of upset about leaving school. No idea why, but it just felt really awkward knowing that school was over for me. Looking around, people are crying with their friends, couples are breaking up, and things are a little bit hectic, while I just stood there. I got a sudden change of pace and Sam ran up to me and planted her lips on me, which I eventually melted into. When she broke apart from me, she held on to me closer.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

"I dunno, I just don't know what's gonna happen with...us..." Sam looked down.

"Yeah, about that..." I held her by her shoulders, "Sam, we need to talk..."

"Okay," she took a deep breath, ready for the infamous group of stinging words.

"...I think that we should move out together."

"I-" she blinked, "Wait, what?"

"I think that we should move out together," I repeated, "I was looking at apartments in Amity Park that had okay prices, and I thought that if we were going to the same college, we could live together."

"Yes! Yes, absolutely!" she started kissing me again, "I love you!"

When I planned on breaking this to her I didn't expect her to take it so well, but I guess that's life. So obviously, I thought it was a pretty good thing. I was so caught up with Sam that I hadn't even realized that Tucker had waltzed over. He tapped on my shoulder and we broke apart awkwardly.

"Yeah, hi. When you two are done sucking face, I'm gonna head with the rest of the senior class over to Paulina's house," he gave a cheeky smile.

"TUCKER."

"Alright, alright! Just saying!"

There was a lot more that I'd rather be doing (preferably going home and talking to Sam more about moving out together) but Sam and I had agreed to doing this for Tucker and frankly I was sick of those two not making a move. There's a sense of irony here, but since I don't know I'll just leave that for later. Anyway, skip ahead a couple hours and I was helping Sam set up the fireworks in the back. Yup, that's how crazy I am.

"So, what did your brother say about these?" I stared at the instructions.

"He said don't get them near anything flammable and don't wear open-toed shoes near them," she replied.

"We're surrounded by trees."

"Cross your fingers and hope for the best," she stood up.

We stood there for awhile to marvel at our work, seeing as it took half an hour. There was that uncomfortable time slot of silence before both of us just started holding each other. It wasn't kissing, we were just holding each other. I don't know how much time passed, because to be honest, neither one of us really focused on anything or anyone else. Ahem, don't tell anyone I said that, I still have a reputation to uphold. Like I said, I had lost track of time when Tucker pulled us apart.

"What were you guys doing?!" he stared us both down angrily, "I thought I told you to watch for Valerie! Now everyone's telling me she went upstairs already, and what have you been doing this entire time?! Cuddling?!"

"Tucker!" Sam pointed to the window, where Valerie was walking out onto the balcony.

He waved us to get to our positions and threw a rock at the wall to get Valerie's attention. She looked down.

"Tucker? What are you doing?"

"I've had something that I've wanted to say, and I honestly think that the best way to say it is to sing it," he cleared his throat.

"Here we go," Sam covered her face in embarrassment, "Never do this for me."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on it any time soon," I said as I fidgeted with the camera, "Why isn't this starting?"

"Hit it," Sam suggested.

"I've tried that already. This is what I get from borrowing my dad's camera."

"Something tells me that other people will get better quality anything," she looked at the numerous people who had lined up to watch Tucker, "Wait a second, is he singing 'Start of Something New' from High School Musical? I always thought that was our song."

"How did you know that was from High School Musical?" I asked, "Besides, I thought 'Breaking Free' fit us more."

"Meh, I thought 'Everyday' or 'You Are the Music in Me' was better for us."

We looked at each other weirdly.

"Um...Jazz...used to watch it. Yeah let's go with that."

"Yup...and my...cousin made me watch all three while I babysat her."

We stood there in silence even longer.

"...This conversation never happened."

"Deal."

More silence.

"...Can we both just agree on any of the duets between Gabriella and Troy in the third movie works for us?" she piped up quickly.

"I can live with that," I nodded fast.

"Okay, now we're done."

A huge crowd was starting to gather around Tucker, whipping out their camera phones and stifling laughter, yet Tucker still continued to sing. He was incredibly off key, too. Now that's dedicated. Sam had gotten sick of Tucker being made a fool, so she set off the fireworks early in an attempt to redirect the audience's attention. The fireworks had set off the wrong way and some of the sparks had started to fly on the trees, which is where the chaos started.

One of the trees caught on fire, and neither one of Paulina's parents were home. Sam was the first to notice, and then me. Soon the fire got bigger and people started to freak out. Yeah, this was the result of Tucker's master plan.

"This is your best idea yet, Tuck," I raised an eyebrow, "You definitely gave Valerie something to think about."

* * *

"I still don't know how this happened," Sam said, frustrated, "I swear I put all of the fireworks in the right position!"

"I don't know either, I mean, it's not like-" it hit me, "Sam, you remember when we were...holding each other right before Tucker came?"

"Danny, now's not the time."

"No, I mean, did you lean against anything?"

"...Oh, crap."

"Samantha Elizabeth Manson!" Mrs. Manson's high pitched voice echoed through the remains of the Sanchezes' yard.

"...I'm dead."

"You missy, are coming with me to discuss your recent antics!"

"...Send me a postcard."

"Of all the things you could have done!"

"...The address is hell."

"Let's go, Samantha," she grabbed Sam by the wrist, "and if I ever hear you contacting Charles again, I will make sure that you are never let out of your room again!"

"I'm 18! You can't just keep grounding me, and it's Kevin!" Sam protested, "He had his name changed in court because he said that you gave him a douche name!"

She gasped and Sam mouthed the words "I'll call you when I get home" before being yanked away. I walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Foley, who were yelling at their son as well.

"Do you know how much money you cost your father?! We were forced to cover almost all of the expenses!"

I backed away again to my parents, who were trying to talk Paulina's parents into fumigating the house, as they still believed that Sam wouldn't do something like this and that it was a ghost. Yes, even after they found out about my secret they still continued to hate ghosts, they had just backed off as far as Danny Phantom and his allies go. It was a very long night.

Despite the incident that had occurred that night, there was one bright side: Valerie had agreed to go out with Tucker. She began spewing out how no one had ever done that for her before and even though it was embarrassing it was also romantic. No joke, this is coming from _Valerie freaking Gray_. Later that night, Sam had managed to call me.

"Just be glad the cops didn't find out that the fireworks are illegal," I pointed out, trying to cheer her up.

"You know, something tells me that going to jail would still be better than what I was going to tell her about."

"Really?" I asked, "What would that be?"

"I was going to tell her about us moving out together."

"...Oh crap."

* * *

**Are you dead? No, seriously? Well, for those of you still alive after that plethora of crap, yes! That is how Danny asked Sam to move out with him! Why? Because I felt like it, and I'm the writer! So please be sure to leave a review with SUGGESTIONS! I really need more ideas, and would love your input. Nothing too major, okay? The rating is T, and I don't write M rated stuff, so there. Simple as that. Okay, I hope that you guys liked that, and I will see you next week, with an update on my first week of school! Elephi245, out!**


	5. Ghost Therapy

**Hola, my friends! I am ****_so_**** glad that the last one-shot was so well-received, and I hope you guys like this one, too! It's pure drabble, so I really am running out of ideas. So, that being said, SUGGEST IN THE REVIEW! I have about two more ideas to fill some chapters up and I'm just seriously brain-blocked as far as ideas go, so anything helps. If I PM you, chances are I'm asking for your permission to use the idea. I will credit you in the one-shot, and for further explanation on anything regarding PM, you may check on my profile.**

**In this chapter, our lovely half ghost clone Danielle stops by for a visit as she interrupts Danny and Sam's night by spilling her sorrows to them, only to make a shocking discovery. Sam must then give an explanation of what Danielle is going through, and her advice leads to the rest of the Ghost Zone lining up at the door for a little sympathy. Before I go on anymore, I'd like to note that Danny works for a newspaper as a photographer because yes, he's practically Spiderman already, so why not?**

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom does not belong to me. *Hangs head in shame* Any characters are property of Butch Hartman. Also, I do not own Midol. Well, I ****_do_**** own Midol, but not in the context that I created it-Well, you know what I mean.**

**Ghostly Vengeance  
Ghost Therapy**

* * *

"FENTON! PICK UP YOUR CHECK BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!"

Danny sighed. His boss was yelling at him _again_. He walked up to the secretary's desk.

"Hey, Rose. I need to pick up my paycheck," he frowned.

"Sorry Danny," she apologized, "The doctor says he's off his normal meds. They put him on midol to see if it'd make a difference."

"That's...nice," Danny shook his head, not knowing what midol was.

"Have a good rest of the day, hun," Rose handed him the check.

"You too," he waved, heading out the door for the last time that week.

* * *

"How was work?" Sam asked as Danny walked through the door.

"Horrible. Yours?" he smiled a guilty grin.

"Lousy," she responded, "but I saw that the newest Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie is on Pay-Per-View, and I figured we could watch and make fun of it."

"What? Safe Haven?"

"Yeah."

"Get the remote."

Whenever Danny and Sam had asked if they could "watch a movie", it was usually just composed of Danny's arm around Sam while they pointed out any flaw or special effects fail they could find. Sam reached up to Danny's face and began to kiss him. Both were obviously enjoying each other's company when an obnoxious rapping came from their door.

"Danny? Sam? It's me, Dani!"

"I'm kind of preoccupied here!" Danny mumbled, his lips still glued to Sam's.

"Just get the door," Sam sighed, detaching herself from her boyfriend.

Danielle fazed through the door and began crying.

"Dani, what's wrong?" Sam put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well," Danny started, "my boss was off his meds today-"

"Not you!" Sam punched him in the arm and pointed to the chairs and table, urging her to sit, "Speak up, _Danielle_."

"I hate my life!" she spat, "There! I said it! I'm sick of being a normal teenager!"

"Aren't we all?" Sam frowned, "Be more specific."

"My friends are hanging around someone who hates me, my boyfriend is ignoring me, Danny's crackpot mother keeps trying to run tests on me, my stomach is hurting me like hell, and whenever I go to the bathroom, I pee blood!"

"Danielle, I know that it's hard to be in high school, but-Wait, what was that last part?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"My stomach hurts?"

"No, after that," she clarified.

"I'm peeing blood?"

"Yeah, that," Sam nodded, "When exactly did you start...'peeing blood'?"

"I dunno, a couple days ago," Dani shrugged.

"Uh huh," she stroked her chin, "and has this been happening everyday or on and off?"

"On and off, I guess," she stared at Sam, confused.

"Danielle, how frequently has this been happening and when did it start?"

"I'm pretty sure it's been every few weeks," Dani looked at Sam even more weird, "I think it started about two months ago. Why?...Oh my god, I'm dying, aren't I?! That's what's happening! I didn't mean it when I said that, I was just upset! I don't wanna go, even though I look like I'm 16, I'm really only 5!"

Sam stifled a laugh, and Danny had to excuse himself from the room and shut the door to break out into hysterics that could still be heard. He opened the door and cleared his throat.

"Um, Dani? You aren't dying. You're...Oh, how do I put this?" she sighed, "You're not dying, you're...menstruating."

Sam glared at Danny, who was covering his mouth, but was obviously laughing behind his hand.

"I'm...what?" Danielle tilted her head in confusion, "Men-mus-what?"

"You're...becoming a woman," Sam shifted uncomfortably.

"I thought I already was a girl!"

Danny snorted.

"No, no! You're already a girl, but...you're...getting older," she tried to explain.

"Hold on a second. I thought that we're always growing? At least until we're in our 20s, right?"

"Well, yes, but..." she trailed off.

She glanced over to Danny, who was shaking uncontrollably, his face bright red and scrunched up from prevention of laughing.

"Okay, unless _you_ wanna explain this to her than I suggest you QUIT LAUGHING!"

Danny stood up, "I'm gonna...go outside and get some fresh air."

He slid the balcony doors open and fell on the floor laughing as soon as he shut them.

"He'll be occupied for awhile," Sam waved him away, "...You're getting your period."

"Period? What's a period?" Danielle repeated the word, "I thought that was how you ended sentences!"

"Um, yes...but it's also what's happening to your body right now..." Sam explained, "That doesn't mean you go around saying that!"

"Okay, okay! I got that, but what does a period do?"

"...Hold on," Sam got up from the table.

Danielle waited a little, twiddling her thumbs and directed her attention to her cousin, who was still laughing on the floor.

_Why is this so funny to him?_ she implored, _I've been given a death sentence and he's laughing!_

Sam sat down at the table again and plopped some things on the surface. Among these things were a piece of paper, a book, and a plastic bag that's contents were unfamiliar to Danielle.

"This is what website you're going to visit to explain what's going on with your body," Sam slid the piece of paper to her, "and the other book is going to help you keep track of your period."

"Okay, but what's the stuff in the bag for?" Dani poked it.

"Go to the website and then you'll get it."

Danny had entered the room, clutching his stomach. He had a sickly expression spread across his face.

"Are you done laughing now, Joker?" Sam faced him.

"Yeah," he croaked, "and I kind of want to puke."

"How pleasant," Sam stood up and handed Danielle everything, "If you have questions, I want you to come to me. I wouldn't exactly trust Jazz or Danny's mom with this."

Danielle nodded and walked out onto the balcony, transforming into her ghostly counterpart and taking off. Sam crossed her arms.

"Are you happy now?" she eyed Danny, "I probably just scarred her for life."

"She was bound to find out eventually," Danny pointed out, "and what did you put in that bag?"

"Pads and midol."

"M-That can't be right," Danny said, "My boss is taking midol."

"Is your boss moody?" she asked.

"He practically has multiple personality disorder."

"Does he get cramps?"

"Supposedly."

"He's taking midol."

* * *

Danny and Sam had decided that on that awkward note, to end the night by making fun of Safe Haven, when BOOM! An ecto beam shot through the wall.

"The wall, really?! I just fixed that!" Danny face-palmed.

"Chill out, dipstick!"

The couple looked up to find Ember, flaming blue hair and all, floating in midair.

"I...ugh, I can't believe I'm doing this, but..." Ember landed and put her guitar down, kicking it across the balcony and holding her hands up, "I need advice."

"You...what?"

"I need advice, and that whiny clone of yours came rambling about how much better she felt," Ember rolled her eyes, "The brat wouldn't shut up, so I totaled her with a blast so I could talk to you guys."

"You WHAT?" Danny clenched his fists.

"It was a tiny blast, nothing more than a few bruises and impaired hearing," Ember waved the thought away, "Now, are you gonna help me or am I gonna have to beat the advice out of you?"

"We're not-UGH!" Sam threw her hands in the air, "What do you want?"

Ember sat on the railing of the balcony and folded her arms, frowning.

"You know how Skulker and I are dating? He's gawking at other girls!" her hair flared higher, flickering in the wind, "I caught him staring at...ugh, Kitty."

"Um...Tell him it bothers you?" Sam shrugged.

"I've already tried that!" she pouted, "He said that no one could ever replace me and started spewing out random crap that he found on the Ghost Zone's Internet!"

"So...I take it that you're mad at Kitty now?"

"Uh, duh! So I got a little revenge!" she smiled evilly, "I figured if she's gonna try to get Johnny jealous again, then I'd just drive her back to him!"

"Ember, what did you do...?" Sam widened her eyes.

"Just a little flirting," Ember picked at her nails, "and to finish it off, I kissed him."

"WHAT?!" Danny and Sam chorused.

"Take a breather, it was on the cheek," she rolled her eyes.

"Why do I have a feeling we'll be dealing with this later?" Danny looked at Sam.

"We need to find a life outside of ghosts and our jobs."

Before Danny could respond, Johnny 13's motorcycle pulled up to the apartment balcony, causing Ember to jump. Kitty ripped off her helmet and turned away from Johnny, who was trying to sweet talk her.

"Oh come on, baby! I can't help that I'm that good!" Johnny turned her around, "I had no idea that she'd do that!"

"I don't wanna hear it-" Kitty gasped, "YOU!"

She charged over to Ember.

"I can't BELIEVE you'd have the nerve to steal my boyfriend!" Kitty slapped her.

"Listen up, baby pop! _You_ were the one who was going around flirting with _my_ guy!" Ember picked up her guitar and wailed a chord at her.

After that, they decided to forget using weapons and resorted to wrestling each other to the ground. Johnny's face showed pure happiness, watching the girls on the floor fight. Within another second, Skulker had arrived, flying next to Johnny. Following Skulker was Technus, Penelope Spectra, and the Box Ghost. Danny yanked at the strands of his jet-black hair and rammed his head against the wall. Sam sympathetically pat him on the back while she massaged her forehead.

"There are times when a Ghostly Wail could come in handy, you know," Sam nudged Danny.

"Good point," Danny stood at the doorway of the balcony, "ENOUGH!"

All fighting ceased, and the crowd gathering glanced to him.

"Look, you guys CLEARLY have problems, but they are NOT mine or Sam's priorities!" he yelled, "So please go back to the Ghost Zone and work this out yourself! I'm sure that Clockwork or the Ghost Writer could supply a healthy and NON-VIOLENT alternative unlike us!"

Mumbles arose from the crowd of ghosts as they left.

"Probably just trying to get his girlfriend laid..." Kitty whispered to Ember.

"Can't believe the dipstick even bothers sleeping in the same apartment as her, let along the same room."

"That whelp is the reason why I'm having relationship problems. I'll have his head mounted on my wall yet."

"BEWARE!"

He closed the door, even though it wouldn't help, and slumped on the couch. Sam plopped herself next to Danny. She scowled at the paused TV.

"Well, dealing with so many relationships at once makes me wanna leave this piece of crap, even if we _were_ making fun of it," she sighed, "I'm changing the channel."

"Fine by me," Danny slid into the sofa, and then sat up again, "Wait a second..."

"Yeah?"

"Danielle...said she had a boyfriend..." he let the thought sink in, "Danielle has a BOYFRIEND?!"

"Hoo boy, never gonna hear the end of this one, right?"

* * *

**Yeah, like I said, it's all drabble. However, Danny being overprotective of Danielle ****_does_**** give me an idea for a one-shot. *Laughs maliciously* Anywhore, be sure to review and SUGGEST IDEAS! I cannot stress how important it is to suggest ideas, because I don't want to be writers' blocked with this stuff! Seriously though, SUGGEST. Like I said before, I don't write anything past the standard T rating, and I will PM you in advance if I want to use your idea, along with crediting you twice in the one-shot. Okay then, I'll leave it at that! Suggest, review, and all that good stuff! Elephi245, out!**


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